Enron Ethical Issues Essay Example

Enron Corporation was once recognized as one of the most innovative companies in the United States. However, the corporation went bankrupt due to some ethical issues arising from the top management. The corporation cultural performance from its employees was among the ethical issues that led it to collapse. Employees at Enron faced a very tough competitive environment since they were required to meet certain standards. They were always full of tension since their main agenda was to meet the financial goal of the company (Boettcher et al., 2014, pp. 480). In other words, the employees focused on making their performance look good to avoid losing their jobs. Therefore, they ended up ignoring the ethical standards required of any organization. This factor created fraud cases among the employees. They started cheating in their work to improve their financial performance. In the end, the issue concerning cheating caused deception on the employees working environment. Employee’s performance was measured through their cheating abilities, which contributed to the fall of the corporation.

Enron Corporation tried to silence its employees and the outside associates. This ethical factor also contributed to the downfall of the organization. The organization discouraged its employees on questioning the financial performance of the company. Employees and the outside parties were discouraged not to question the company since the top management were committing fraud. In this case, employees were silenced to protect the organization’s interest, which was achieved through cheating. The two ethical issues are considered to be major since they contributed to the downfall of the corporation.

The Virtue Ethics of Aristotle

According to Aristotle, individuals can acquire virtue ethics through different skills. The Philosopher asserts that people are not born being virtuous, but they can acquire virtue ethics through learning skills. People can develop virtue traits such s happiness and courage. Additionally, virtue ethics comprises of moral and intellectual features. The features showcase how individuals focus on their actions and emotions to achieve any virtue personality. Therefore, being virtuous requires people to be able to handle their emotions and actions. In other words, individuals should be able to avoid extreme feelings and actions to possess virtue ethics.

The consequentialist theory usually focuses on judging people by their actions. In case an individual action was based on the positive result, then it is considered to be a moral action. If a person’s action is based on the negative outcome, then it is considered to be an immoral action. On the other hand, the non-consequentialist theory also judges people through their actions. However, the theory judges individuals based on their reasons for the actions. Hence, people’s reasons can determine the outcome of an event. In this case, if an individual action is based on good intentions, then it is considered to be a moral action. Hence, the moral action relies on the good intentions of an individual. Compared to Consequentialist and Non-consequentialist, Virtue ethics focuses on determining moral character of individuals. Virtue ethics do not apply any rules or guidelines that can be used in any moral circumstances. Thus, it focuses on virtue features of answering the question of how, when and why.

Kellogg’s CSR

For the past few years, Kellogg Corporation has been recognized as one of the companies that offer nourishing and enriching food to individuals. However, the organization CSR statement is not sincere as stated. The statement focuses on delivering high-quality food to its customers, but it turns out that the food being delivered is harmful for human consumption. Therefore, Kellogg’s CSR statement is directed to fraud customers since they are focused on getting their profits. The company statement asserts that its main aim is to provide nutritious products to its customers. Thus, there should not be any other cases being reported otherwise. This means that Kellogg’s CSR statement is meant to attract customers and win their trust. The organization had created a false statement that was used to deceive the customers. In other words, Kellogg’s CSR statement displays unethical concept since they are deceiving the customers to improve their financial performance.

Kellogg’s statement can be assessed through the Kantian theory. The theory states that every wrong or right done does is not influenced by any consequences as long as the duty is completed. In this case, Kellogg company statement applies to the Kantian theory. It does not consider any consequences, and rather it focuses on achieving its main goal of organizational performance. The company statement does not justify its actions which cause the actions not be controlled. The consequences, in this case, cannot be controlled since the customers are convinced to be offered high-quality products.

Fair Trade

Other than addressing the issue of fair returns, fair trade can help improve the living standards of many farmers. Farmers can be paid fairly due to their farm products sold in many international countries. To achieve the above goal, farmers should start working together and have unity among themselves. By doing so, the government will start paying attention to their grievances, which may lead to many of their problems being solved. Additionally, farmers should strive to work collectively to gain from the world fair trade. The problems faced by farmers can result in good leadership and strong communities. Fair trades can benefit both large and small-scale farmers.

On the other hand, Corporations have significant roles on social responsibilities of the global community. It focuses on tackling ethical, social and health issues in the global communities. Corporations can also ensure that fair trade improves the living standards of the community. Market growth can be improved through the participation of Corporates in the Fair trades. Corporations offer a platform for every small and large-scale farmers. This is because they focus on the farmer’s products which can improve trade developments (Reed, 2015, pp. 211). Corporations have the ability to lower the market standards among producers, which can help in the Fair trades. A good example is the private corporates which offer platform for successful Fair trade. Private Corporations do not require terms and conditions from the government since they use their regulations and standards. In the end, most individuals end up benefiting from both the corporates and Fair trades.

Bibliography

Boettcher, J., Cavanagh, G. and Xu, M., 2014. Ethical Issues that arise in Bankruptcy. Business and Society Review, 119(4), pp.473-496.

Reed, D., 2015. 12. Cooperatives, corporations and fair trade. Handbook of Research on Fair Trade, p.211.